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-   -   Tourist want more bang for their bucks (https://britishexpats.com/forum/barbados-109/tourist-want-more-bang-their-bucks-643637/)

neal brown Dec 6th 2009 2:09 pm

Tourist want more bang for their bucks
 
Mr.Capaldi is complaining,these are just some of the stupid mistake that the greedy Bajans and outside investors had made.The problem with tourist in Barbados came from the idea that Barbados is a luxury destination,every single hotels or condo that goes up is 5 star, or there are charging 5 star prices,golf courses all over the place i have nothing against 5 star or upscale places.But we should be concentrating on the normal working class tourist these are the people that will shape our economy,working on getting cheaper flights to Barbados,when will we stop catering for the rich and famous,i have travel to Rhodes Island off Greece and every thing is reasonable there are many hotels and all of them are full the beaches are packed with tourist and all the resturants are full,maybe some of these nut heads in Barbados should travel and copy some ideas.If you have a business count the normal working class that comes in and spend money compare with the multi millionares and see its 10 to 1.

sandgirl Dec 6th 2009 11:25 pm

Re: Tourist want more bang for their bucks
 

Originally Posted by neal brown (Post 8150606)
Mr.Capaldi is complaining,these are just some of the stupid mistake that the greedy Bajans and outside investors had made.The problem with tourist in Barbados came from the idea that Barbados is a luxury destination,every single hotels or condo that goes up is 5 star, or there are charging 5 star prices,golf courses all over the place i have nothing against 5 star or upscale places.But we should be concentrating on the normal working class tourist these are the people that will shape our economy,working on getting cheaper flights to Barbados,when will we stop catering for the rich and famous,i have travel to Rhodes Island off Greece and every thing is reasonable there are many hotels and all of them are full the beaches are packed with tourist and all the resturants are full,maybe some of these nut heads in Barbados should travel and copy some ideas.If you have a business count the normal working class that comes in and spend money compare with the multi millionares and see its 10 to 1.

Sorry Neal, I got to work 10 times harder to make the same amount of Money I get of 1 person e.g. serve 10 people in BertsBar that I serve 1 person in the Cliff? running my ass of for 10 people I can charge 1, sorry it don't make sense to me, but I might misunderstood I apologize.
BTW: I don't want to got to Greece I want to go where the Rich and Famous are BEAUTIFUL BARBADOS- I want to be one the chosen few that can afford to be here -not like everybody in Ibiza or Spain. Why you think everybody wants to go to Monaco, St.Moriz, Courcvevel, Aspen ? You want Barbados be like Dominican Republic?....

Ikon Dec 7th 2009 1:04 am

Re: Tourist want more bang for their bucks
 
I agree, Barbados's appeal is that it has retained a little exclusivity. Not that much LOL..... but some. The beaches aren't too crowded, and there are some nice places to eat and drink for tourists taking a special holiday.

I agree that I wouldn't like it be like Greece/Spain (although there are some places here that aren't that far away from that already tbh), and God forbid it be like the DR. No disrespect to anyone living there, but there's a certain kind of tourist you see there quite frequently that we really don't need in B'dos.

neal brown Dec 7th 2009 6:27 am

Re: Tourist want more bang for their bucks
 
Sandgirl if you open your eyes you will see that just catering for the rich does not work.its ok for you to say that,thats why tourism is on the decline and many bajans cant afford a piece of land.Do you think the rich and famous dont go to greece and spain?We as Bajans intrest should be focus on the better of our economy,not Paris Hilton or David Becham comming once every 5 years.It reach to a stage now that we are paying celebrities to come to Barbados.Do you think having Barbados like Monaco would be any fun?seems like we should keep building like Dubai and end up bankrupt.:blink:

Ikon Dec 7th 2009 6:31 am

Re: Tourist want more bang for their bucks
 
Neal, I googled 'decline in tourism' Greece lost 9% tourism in 2009 against Barbados's 5%.

It seems (logically, I suppose) that the rich can still afford holidays and the destinations offering cheaper package holidays have lost a greater proportion of their footfall overall. Maybe catering for the wealthy, who can still afford holidays, makes more sense in the current economic climate.

neal brown Dec 7th 2009 8:23 am

Re: Tourist want more bang for their bucks
 
Well those figures are incorrect. The Barbados Tourism Athuority continue to lie to the public over and over, tourism in barbados is pure politics i can assure you the barbados tourism was on the decline since the start of the year 2000 because i work in tourism and i have close friends that has millions invested in accommodations.You can speak with anybody in the tourist business and hear what they will tell you.Whether it be resturants owners,watersport operators,tour operators etc.The government will never give out the exact figures and scare away foreign investors.Ikon do you know how many business was close down due to the short fall of tourist comming into Barbados? and it will not get better in the near future,i will like someone to tell me where are all these people staying when there arrive in Barbados and who is collecting the money.

Ikon Dec 7th 2009 8:30 am

Re: Tourist want more bang for their bucks
 
LOL...... They weren't government figures as far as I could tell actually, Neal. They were put together by travel agents and airlines. I'm not sure what interest they'd have in manipulating the figures. Maybe you just think b/c they don't fit your agenda.

Of course tourism here is down. It's down everywhere. But I don't think appealing to the middle market would help Barbados. Surely the rich are more likely to be able to still afford holidays, it's the middle classes who holidayed at home in the UK last summer.

sandgirl Dec 7th 2009 10:55 am

Re: Tourist want more bang for their bucks
 

Originally Posted by neal brown (Post 8152545)
Well those figures are incorrect. The Barbados Tourism Athuority continue to lie to the public over and over, tourism in barbados is pure politics i can assure you the barbados tourism was on the decline since the start of the year 2000 because i work in tourism and i have close friends that has millions invested in accommodations.You can speak with anybody in the tourist business and hear what they will tell you.Whether it be resturants owners,watersport operators,tour operators etc.The government will never give out the exact figures and scare away foreign investors.Ikon do you know how many business was close down due to the short fall of tourist comming into Barbados? and it will not get better in the near future,i will like someone to tell me where are all these people staying when there arrive in Barbados and who is collecting the money.

Well I tell you- they are not staying in Bakers Wood, ;-) at your friends place, as a Tourist you cant even pay me to have my vacation there.... I got 2 Houses by the sea and I am fully booked from November to March next year. Went to St. Lucia a month ago and every other restaurant is for sale in Rodney bay, only good hotels going there are the Sandals chain but that is all inclusive which I hope is not the way forward for Barbados. Open your eyes Neal, Barbados was better off this recession than any other place in the Caribbean & with Dubai bankrupt I hope the rich coming back to Barbados even though the service compared to Dubai here SUCKS.

neal brown Dec 7th 2009 12:00 pm

Re: Tourist want more bang for their bucks
 
You are booked up from september to March my friends place at Bakers are fully booked up from 4july 2009 to 07 april 2010. You can check the availability calender as proof,you dont have proof you are just talking for a conversation it is selfish people like you that we dont need in Barbados,by this time you cant afford a shot of Mount Gay at a local rum shop.:eek:

sandgirl Dec 7th 2009 1:23 pm

Re: Tourist want more bang for their bucks
 

Originally Posted by neal brown (Post 8152919)
You are booked up from september to March my friends place at Bakers are fully booked up from 4july 2009 to 07 april 2010. You can check the availability calender as proof,you dont have proof you are just talking for a conversation it is selfish people like you that we dont need in Barbados,by this time you cant afford a shot of Mount Gay at a local rum shop.:eek:

First READ - I said November not September, second Ah I understand that why you still advertised it on a Oct 1st post...? Third if you can afford Mount Gay drink Special Barbados Rum its far cheaper or put up your rent and cater for rich people work from November to March and enjoy the rest of the year and drink Extra Old Mount Gay Rum. and I dont think I am selfish I give 10 Bajans a job which they may or may NOT have if it wouldn't be for the rich coming to Barbados. If it would be a middle income family they would have 1 maid twice a week and 1 gardener once a week.

expat_wannabe07 Dec 7th 2009 1:28 pm

Re: Tourist want more bang for their bucks
 
IMHO Barbados caters more than adequately for both tourists who want some exclusivity, and also for those who want a more reasonably priced holiday. With a bit of research it's possible to holiday on the south coast without spending a fortune (especially in the summer months).....those that wish to fork out for a luxury holiday, can head up to the west coast.

Ikon Dec 7th 2009 1:38 pm

Re: Tourist want more bang for their bucks
 
Absolutely. I said in my post there are places on Barbados that aren't far removed from what the Greek/Spanish package holiday customer would want.

But.......

For BRITISH tourists, Barbados will never compete on cost with Greece/Spain, for the simple fact that the flight is 2 to 4 times as long. It would be very foolish of Bajan businesses aimed at tourists to try and take any of that market away from Europe because it will always be more expensive to get here and therefore uncompetitive at that end of the market.

I read somewhere that Barbados's drop-off has got nothing to do with British tourists anyway, it's Americans that have stopped coming because they can get the same weather (pretty much) by going somewhere closer like Orlando. I imagine that's why it's the American tourists they're trying to win back with things such as the new JetBlue flights from NYC.

neal brown Dec 7th 2009 2:41 pm

Re: Tourist want more bang for their bucks
 
:thumbup:Ikon i can agree with you i think you are a bit more compromising than Sandgirl(SNIP)As i made myself a promise to keep inline follow the rules and have a bit more respect for people posting on this site .In my original post i said i have nothing against the rich and famous or upscale places,but i am totally against every single hotel,resturant,golf project,condo etc that is going up these days just catering for the rich,everything that is being built is luxury it does not make so much sense to me and a lot of the not so luxury are carrying up their prices to luxury prices.But Sandgirl are boasting that she has 2 beach houses,I have a lot of millionare friends and what i learn from them is that people who has money and have it made never go around boasting.Where are these beach houses Sandgirl in Nelson street.:rofl:

Ikon Dec 7th 2009 3:07 pm

Re: Tourist want more bang for their bucks
 
Well yes, of course the best thing Barbados can do is cater to its widest possible market.

From what I understand, the best plan will be to try and entice back the Americans we've lost, as British numbers aren't down that much. I'm not sure how they'll manage it with the Americans though, every other Caribbean island seems quicker/cheaper to reach and there are places in the US they can go to far more easily. This economical crisis is quite a challenge for Barbados, really.

Of course, turning it on its head - maybe the answer is less to do with tourism, anyway. It's not good for Barbados to be so reliant on one thing for its income. Perhaps it's about attracting foreign investment in terms of business. But again, that will only mean more development & more expensive properties being built, which people don't seem keen on..... I wouldn't really fancy being in the government's shoes in the current situation!

expat_wannabe07 Dec 7th 2009 3:34 pm

Re: Tourist want more bang for their bucks
 
Neal, you make some very interesting and valid points, and bring lively debate to this forum...but, please, please, enough with the derogatory personal remarks. I know i'm not a moderator, but it just makes me feel uncomfortable - you really don't have to make a personal attack every time someone disagrees with you or doesn't share your opinions.


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